MODERN CHINA FACTS SUMMARY
THE END OF MONARCHY IN CHINA
Only in 1911, under the leadership of The Kuomitang of Sun Yatseng China would overcome it's monarchyc rule (end of Ching Dynasty)
The bourgeoisie nationalistic movement didn't keep the national cohesion and the fragmentation of power lead to the emergence of Landlords and Warlords which kept some feudal control over rural areas.
THE FIRST UNITED FRONT (1919 – 1927)
Under the influence of the Soviet Revolution of October 1917 the Chinese Communists launched the 4th May Movement in 1919 which would lead to the foundation of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921 (July)
Sun Yatsen becomes the President of Canton in 1921 and supports the Communist Party, assuming a formal allience to displace Feudal Lords in 1923 – also known as First United Front (1921/3 - 1927)
They even send joint troops for the North Expedition against those Feudal Lords.
In 1925 Sun Yatsen dies and Chinag Kai-Shek assumes his position, gradually reducing the Kuomitang support and even persecuting and killing Communists to the extent that, in 1927, there's a formal rupture and the parts engage in a Civil War lasting until 1931.
CIVIL WAR BETWEEN COMMUNIST PARTY AND KUOMITANG (1927 – 1937)
Since 1927 Chiang Kaishek sent 5 military campaigns against the Communist Resistence, but never succeed
Those civil fights made the country vulnerable to the Japanese domination of Manchuria in 1934
In 1928 the Communist troops lead by Mao Tsetung and Chu Teh merge in Chingkanshan, originating the Red Army Force of China
Chu Teh would be the military strtegist of the Revolution (basically just being removed from military high posts during the Cultural Revolution for his support to Zhou Enlai)
Mao Zedong would be the theoretical and political leader of the revolution untill his death in 1976 (with some ups and downs ahead of the Party)
1930 – Mao is formlly recognized as the leader of the Revolution by the Communist Party and the Red Army Force, which also setts its institutional basis at this year.
1931 – the Communist Party declares War to Japan in light of its attempts to size Manchuria (Northeast of the Country).
In 1934 the Red Army Force heads North to fight the Japaneses, covering 10 thousand kilometers of difficult terrain and merging with the I, II and III Peasants Army on the way, settling their front in 1935.
In 1936, after the Japaneses overcome their vassals Feudal Lords in Northeast China on behalf of their direct control and also expandade its conquer to Beijing and other areas the Kuomitang was forced to unite with the CPC and the Red Army on the Second United Front (1937 – 1945).
The Japanese stand to the Nazi's on the World War II made U.S.A to pushed resistance against Japan also.
THE SECOND UNITED COALITION (1937 - 1947)
1940 – “The New Democracy”: A document launched by Mao Zedong stipulating a stage prior to socialism but after 'feudalism'.
One of Mao's most important contributions to Marxism-Leninism because it was not lmited to the theory of the State but rather presented a theory of a variety of problems, such as:
The means and ways of realizing a New Democracy;
The problem of power at the center of the structure;
Conditions to go from New Democracy to Socialism;
The role of the Communist Party;
The revolutionary classes (Pluriclassist – Dictatorship instead of the traditional Proletarian – Dictatorship of Marx's Socialism);
Revolutionary classes are defined as those who have Non-Antagonistic contradictions (peasants, workers and petty bourgeoisie) which can be settled throughout dialogue and pacific ways, in opposition to those who have Antagonistic contradictions (Feudal lords; rich peasants with large lands ownership; and some very rich urban bourgeoisie on possession of Capital – all of those described as non-nationalistic or Imperialist-prone groups)
The difference between national land owners and Feudal lords is the extent to which they use the land to product or to rent it as capital – Focus Rural on Modes of Production.
The importance of the United Front composed by several revolutionary classes;
Three fundamental instruments of the revolution at that moment were identified as:
The Communist Party;
The Popular Front;
The Army.
Characterizes China by its particularity (a feudal country fighting against Japanese Imperialism) in contrast to the URSS, which he settles as a departing-model for reaching socialism.
Claims that the Chinese vulnerability can't shift straight to Socialism and therefore needs to overcome some pre-capitalist gaps through a strong national bourgeoisie which is also necessary to oppose Imperialists and keep the economic health during revolution.
Points that it's not purely socialist, but also not purely bourgeois, therefore the non-bourgeois classes would prevent any capitalist accommodation.
Criticized all those against the New Democracy and its pluriclassist aspect as counter-revolutionaries 'leftists'.
Claims for dialectics and claims for priority of politics over economy, generating a cultural structure prone to the Communist culture than.
1945 – End of World War II, defeat of Japan and start of domestic skemishes between the Communist Party and the Kuomitang which would lead to their confrontation from 1947 until 1949.
THE ERUPTION OF LAND REVOLUTION FROM BELLOW (August, 1945 – October, 1947)
After the end of the Resistence War against Japanese Imperialism there was a natural bottom -up initiative from peasants of seizing lands from Feudal Lords who collaborated with Japan.
The Communist Party support for such initiatives in a moderated level through the May Fourth Directive (1996) was an attempt to avoid the Civil War against the Kuomitang.
The May Fourth Directive called for legalizing the old-Feudal lands already sized by peasants and allowed old Feudal Lords of some areas to keep portions of land 50% bigger than what was allowed to normal peasants.
Offered the Feudal Lords the possibility of 'voluntarily selling' their excess/surpluss land in order to not have it simply sized by peasants or by the Communist Party itself.
The State was supposed to sell acquired lands to the peasants at half the price it payed with installments paid over 10 years.
THE HIGH TIDE OF LAND REVOLUTION (October, 1947 – February, 1948)
1947 – Basic Agrarian Law: Feudal System was completelly abolished and Feudal lands all were to be redistribued among peasants.
The Communist Military Offense against the Kuomitang matched the peasants radicalism in the North.
There was an empirical search of new forms of village-scalle policy through different experiences lead by peasants and the Party.
TOWARDS THE MODERNIZATION OF THE LAND REFORM (January, 1948 – June, 1950)
Mao's Inner Party Directive of January 1948 provided Land Lords shares of land equal to those granted to peasants, prevented them from being killed and also assured rights of Non-Antagonic rich classes (peasants and urban-industrial workers) as to get support in the Civil War and also strenght the basis of the New Democracy.
Communist Party of China wins the Civil War and establishes the Peoples Republic of China in 1947, while the Kuomitang establishes the Republic of China in the island of Taiwan, under the protection of the U.S.A.
LAND REVOLUTION IN THE SERVICE OF PRODUCTION (June, 1950 – Spring, 1953).
Aimed at: “set free the rural productive forces, develop agricultural production and thus pave the way for China's industrialization”.
Industrial gap left by the fled away of foreigners (specially Japaneses)
From end 1949 to 1952 the agricultural production grow 15% per year.
Worked out more precise distinctions between Landlords, rich peasants, middle peasants and poor peasants & laborers
Landlords were isolated
Rich peasants had a cautious reduction on the percentage of the crop areas under their control and also of the average of their lands.
Middle peasants had an increase in percentual possession as well as average size proportional to what was taken from the rich peasants.
Poor pesants and laborers saw it's percentage of lands and average size of them basically doubled.
From 40 to 50% of government budget was invested on infrastructure and industrialization
The adverse effect is that those settlements of poor peasants and guarantees given to rich peasants ended up enforcing property rights and postponing the socialist built up.
Some problems which followed that included land fragmentation, primitive technology, acute shortage of tools and draft animals in a premechanized rural economy.
SOCIALIST TRANSFORMATION: THE FIRST FIVE YEAR PLAN AND THE SOVIET MODEL (1953 – 1957)
Industry left by foreigners was on the coast and export-oriented
Attempt to take advantage of the potential capitalist economy on benefit of the society.
The First Five Year Plan (1953-1957) launched the transition from New Democracy to Socialism.
Articulate on 4 main basis:
Primacy on capital-intensive socialist heavy industry, particularly large-scale, integrated complexes centered in large industrial inland cities.
88% of industry budget was spent on heavy-industry
The private agrarian sector supplies food, resources, and much of the capital required for industrialization, export and growing cities.
40% of the investment capital come from agriculture out of which 77% was invested in industry and transport while agriculture only received back 8% of that total.
Very hierarchical and centralized control of power and econmic and administrative policies.
The URSS provides foreign cpital, machinery and technical assistance.
“Utilization, restriction and transformation” of urban bourgeoisie.
Many former capitalists served as managers or advisers.
It was officially designated as a model of industrial management on 3 bases:
Clearly defined hierarchical division of labor distinguishing between managerial, technical and worker roles with the authority vested in the former
A rigid chain of command penetrating from powerful central ministries to the factory, with basic targets and decisions handed down from above and detailed regulations defining all aspects of factory work
Heavy reliance on material incentives, particularly in the form of piece-works rates (for most workers) and bonuses (particularly for managers)
Agricultural bad performances acirrated struglle between peasants willing to form cooperatives and rich peasants afraid of being exproprietad in such cases.
Rich peasants kept a disproportional possession (from 3 to 4 times more) of other means of rural production than the land (e.g. Draft animals, ploughs and whater weels).
The crisis of agriculture in 1955 lead Mao support a socialist upsurge in the countryside by claiming the precedence of cooperatives over the achievement of rural mechanization – Changed the First Five Year Plan.
It also reflected his intention to reduce dependence on URSS (Krushev become Party leader there in 1953).
The consequences in 1955 lead to elementary cooperatives, in which cooperatives paie an average of 22% of its agricultural produce as rent to rich peasants for their machinery.
In 1956 there was a transition to advanced cooperatives without renting services being paid to rich peasants and with an income distribution according to the principle of “to each according to one's work”
The Unified Purchase and Supply Order of November 1953, which required the sale of all surplus grain to the state at fixed prices, matched those transformations and basically ended speculation and free market in the sigle most important commodity, closing the way for rich pesants and enable the state to provide agricultural loans from the People's Bank in a scalle 3 times bigger than before 1956.
In one year basically the city and rural areas completed very well the transition to socialist state owned property, therefore creating optimism which influenced Mao and local leaders to implement communist institutions already at that time (some say it was too early).
The National Program for Agricultural Development (1956-1957) was a landmark on the rural field.
Mobilization of underutilized labor
Economic diversification
Expansion and transformation of education
Technological inovation
Expansion of health, social and cultural services
The socialist ownership was of two kinds: whole people ownership though the state or ownership by a collective.
The most pronounced deviation with the First-Year Plan and it's Sovietic line was launched by the speech “On The Ten Major Relationships” (1956), in which he claims to use dialectic to correct some antagonisms emerging from the First Five Year plan dilemmas:
The relations between high-industry and soft-industry/agriculture
The relations between industries in the coast and industries in the interior
The relations between economic construction and defense construction
The relation between states, units of production and the producers
The relations between central and local authorities
The relations between Han nationalities and other nationalities
The relations between Party and non-Party
The relations between revolution and counter-revolution
The relations between right and wrong
The relation between China and the other countries
Also tried cohibiting death penalties and violence on the shift towards advanced cooperatives and ahead
The shift in China was much less violent than in URSS
This speech is said to be an early warning of the basis of the Great Leap Forward
It raised opposition in the Party.
Despite generating a Party split to be felt from 1957 on the trajectory só far achieved unique material improvements on Chinese society, such as a 40% increase on its GDP from 1952 to 1957, the doubling of industrial output and a 20% growth of agriculture in the same period.
Other problem pushing towards a radical reform was the rural-urban migration due to the disproportional growth of industry over agriculture, what threatened the labour base of the agriculture which was backing all the growth.
Hundred Flowers Campaign (1956 - June 1957) – Let a hundred flowers bloom , let a hundred schools of thought contend.
Promotion of free speech and criticism emphasizing the contribution from students, universities and communal settlements can be understood through 3 main views:
An attempt to get support outside the Party since he was falling under vast criticism
An attempt to scape the “peaceful coexistence” that Krushev's Party Leadership was imposing on USSR, East German, Polony and Hungary
Mao himself was shifting into the hard-liners side
The movement was called on the necessity of inhibiting the opposing forces in the Party from aproving a Second Five Year Plan on Soviet basis.
Soon ended up raising critics against Mao himself, for what he substituted it by the Anti-Rightist movement (first wave) – June 1957.
It in fact purged even left-wingers critiques
Zhang Bojun, who fought on the liberation struggle, was Vice Chairman of the Party and Minister f Communication and Transports, was purged from politics.
GREAT LEAP FORWARD (1957/8 – 1961)
MAIN BASIS:
Economic Strategy + Development
Purely economic strategy (in the original framework of the “walking on two legs”)
Basically the political aspect just come after the critiques from 1959 on
Even though Mao always emphacized the primacy of politics over economics, the GLF emerged as primarily an economic project, which further got lost between being politically or economically handled.
Differentiation between economic and socio-political dimension
Empirical parameters of the early days settled the bottom-up aspect of the Great Leap Forward:
Cha-ya-shan Commune (also known as the Wei-hsing or ‘Sputnik’ Commune) in Suip’ing hsien, Honan Province, formally established/documented in 1958 is quoted by Mao in Lushan as a positive example.
Ch’i-li-ying Commune in Hsin-hsiang hsien, Honan, and communes in Hsü-shui hsien, Hopei, were also among the earliest models, set up in the summer of 1958
Dramatic transformation of rural China from 1957 to 1958 through the cooperativization programme.
At the end of 1958 more than 90% of the Rural Communities were under the cathegory of cathegory of HAC (Higher Agricultural Community, different from LAC – Lower Agricultural Community), most of them under the Comune arrangement.
The planning itself accounted for the role of contradictions which were identified according to the vision on the Chinese situation at the time
Antagonistic contradiction (landlord vs workers) were to be crushed
Non-Antagonistic contradictions (among the labor classes and petty bourgeoisie were to be discussed and peacefully overcome)
MAIN STRATEGIES (separated among each other but ultimately inter-related under the basis above). 3 RED BANNERS (GENERAL LINE; GREAT LEAP FORWARD; RURAL PEOPLES COMMUNE):
General Line stressing the Central Concern and the Rural Growth as uninterrupted continuous period forces backing everything eles.
This may seem to contradict with the other ones (as I think is the case), but Mao claimed them to be shaping the other instead of struggling with them.
In the early 1958 there was the claim for a rapid program in industrialization.
Duo (more), Hao (good), Ruai (faster), Sheng (instrument/administration).
Rural People's Commune as a model for structural transformation.
IMPORTANT EVENTS:
1958 - Krushev assumed as URSS Prime Minister, 1958 deepening the de-Stalinization.
Chinese high dependence on technological and financial transfers of fundamental role on the GLF Economic Strategy.
Te blueprints and personal supports would be officialy cut in 1960
1958 - Mao's 60 points on 'How to achieve GLF' stressing means to ensure overall supervision and control by the Central Agency while broadening the policy making site:
Decentralization claim towards the province.
Shift from 'Planing-System' towards 'Active Plan Approach' (didn't completely abbandoned the Planing System.)
Active-plan predicted an integrated central-province handling of the issues in the way of the main lines with mutual ratification
Failed to specify the means of implementation of one such interaction (what, how and when)
Empirical failure clear in the 1958 elections for basic-level congresses in which only 4,500,000 basic-deputies were selected while, in 1953, with a smaller popuation, the number of selected basic-deputies was of 5,669,144.
Possibility of using from 40 to 50% of agrarian surpluss to drive the Mechanization in line with the core agricultural goal (that's an attempt to overcome the critiques of Dualism and contradiction of his strategies).
The technological policy was based on “walk on two legs”:
Import of High technology to heavy industry to provide material for the medium industry (large-scale modern sector).
Buying local technology to the rural areas in small scales (small-scale labour-intensive industry).
Communes would focus majoritarely on agriculture and, in a lesser extent, on a small scale industry serving its needs.
Due to the structural gaps and the backwardness of industry in comparission to agriculture at that time, it implied at improving industry faster than agriculture (even though agriculture was to be central)
½ of the surpluss labour was to be employed in industry units while the other ½ was to be employed on infra-structure construction.
The employment of this surpluss, however, suffered from lack of skill and expertise, therefore it lead to a waste of growth.
Also suffered of lack of surpluss labour because of the 'off & on season'
Surpluss was only avaiable only on the off season.
This condition was agraveted as the URSS abandoned China and huge ammounts of labour had to be redirected in urgency to heavy industry (mostly steel)
In the summer of 1960 crops were left rotting unharvested in the field for emergencies on supplying labor to heavy industry and infra-structure.
More than 40 million peasants were realocated to industry causing the lack of personell in the fields and leading to the Great Famine
Related to the “walk on two legs” view was the 'Commune Densification”, specially felt since september 1958
Reduction of the number of Communes and the extension of the size of the remaining ones.
Early in 1959 around 2/3 of the communes were more like townships.
| YEAR | Nº of Communes | Absolute number of people living in communes (in million) | Percentage of rural population people living in Communes (in million) | Percentage of rural population living in Communes |
| August 58 | 8730 | 37.78 | 30.4 | 4328 |
| Sept 58 (early) | 12824 | 59.79 | 45.1 | 4662 |
| Sept 58 (mid) | 16989 | 81.22 | 65.3 | 4781 |
| Sep 58 (end) | 26452 | 121.94 | 98.0 | 4614 |
| Dec 58 | 26578 | 123.25 | 99.1 | 4637 |
| Early 59 | 24000 |
|
| 5000 |
During the GLF there was a disregard for national economic units under the assumption that communes would themself follow the “two legs logic” (what never happened to the extent that Mao expected).
1958 – Circular issued at the Meeting of the CCP “Organize Themselves on Military Lines”, disposing on the use of military strategies to be applied on day to day life to improve livelihood in the Communes:
Mobilize peasants + Military training
Collective dining
Kindergardens and nurseries
Security Group
Happy homes for the aged
Public baths
etc
The same document explicitly mentioned the intention to merge all cathegories into one in the communal routine (peasants, workers, traders, students, soldiers, etc...)
1959 - Lushan Conference (8th Plenun of the 8th CCCPC).
Critiques on the lack of order and problems on the functioning of the communes
Mao tried to improve the functionality of the commune through a new structure inside it (Commune → Production Brigade → Production Team):
Commune was to sett targets for the others
Production Brigade took the shape of the High Agricultural Communities (HAC) of before the GLF
Production Team took the shape of the Low Agricultural Communities (LAC) of before the GLF
Presented a rectification to the alienation of the ordinary peasant through promoting their education and expanding the attentio to their contributions (listen to the peasants).
Said that the GLF was being deliberately sabotaged by those favorable to the old Planing System – he called them 'Planing Coalition' (Mao would use this argument time and again to explain the 'failure' of the GLF)
Pend Dehuai (Defense Minister) was further arrested for criticizing Mao and this set the path for the inclusion of Mao among non-criticizable names (Marx, Lenim) and the Party itself.
Substituted by Ling Biau (lasted until the end of the Cultural Revolution, when Hua Guafang assumed the Chairmanship he was predicting to get, possibly for Mao's resssentment for Ling lead the troops against Korea when his son died)
This is considered the second wave of the Anti rightist movement
For a short time between 1958 and 1959 some communes even developed free supply system, among other communist achievements
A sett of unfavorable conditions jeopardized the agriculture from 1959 to a961, including systemic draughs and the Yellow River flood of July 1959
MAIN DILEMMAS:
Centralization vs Decentralization
Mechanization or mobilization of labor?
Investment and accumulation
Famine
Actual fall in productivity
Alienation/ distantness from the ordinary peasant
Politics or Economics on command?
Red vs Expert
The issue of assuring a political base in the Party
Relations of Production vs Forces of Production
Self-Reliance vs Dependence
OVERALL TIME-TEMPORAL CHARACTERIZATION:
In general terms, from 1958 to 1960 the strategy was kept on:
Development + socialist construction (with implementation of communist aspects)
Attempt to 'historicize the revolution' (emphacizing Marxist methodology and forging adequation)
To broadcast the GLF as a changing in the course fo China
In more specif characterizations we can say that:
Lowest mid 1958 – Best moment (inspired optimism)
End 1958 – Another good moment
Sharp decline in agriculture and continued rapid industrial growth.
The call of the cadres for peasants to delay their crops untill storage places were built ended up being another reason for the Great Famine to come next.
1959 – Famine Crisis started being felt, early critiques were purged by Mao and minor corrections were implemented in the Commune System.
1960-61 – Opposition to Mao (and the GLF) inside the Party started cristalize
Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqui emerged with modernization views, however Deng would oppose the Cultural Revolution and Liu would support it's claims against rightists but further disagree on the Mao's subjectivation of it (for what he was purged).
NEGATIVE OVERALL CONSEQUENCES OF THE GLF:
'Communist wind'
Premedited establishment of communist institutions while socialist ones were still needed.
Waste growth due to unpredicted labor deviation to heavy industry, to emergencial forest devastations and bad quality national ores utilized due to the URSS sudden abandonment, which also caused exorbitant costs.
Over streched labour due to the “two legs” policy
Agricultural chaos (famine, drought, shortages)
Migration
Decline in purchasing power
The economy of shortage encouraged savings to foster capital needed for agricultural investiments itself. However, in this between there was an increase in the demand which lead to the increase in real prices (decrease in power parity).
Communes were facing huge problems on settling proper conditions of livelihood and sustainability as the integration among it, Brigades and Teams was not happening (innefective and ineficient).
The ideological framework ended up priorizing policy over economics even though the basis of the GLF were largely economic instead of political.
Concrete political measures just come after the 1959 critiques, and even than they kept more restricted to ideological rhetoric than practical transformations.
The initial economic idea of the “wlking on two legs” was basically neglected to a ideological approach, not really political and marginally economical.
Many inovations of the GLF were eliminated from 1960 to 1963, among them:
Part-time schools
Communal dining halls and nurseries
Majority of the new factories and mines
Peoples participation on water control, afforestation and land improvements felt to less than GLF levels
Self commitment of the individuals to collective economy and collective ethics
POSITIVE OVERALL CONSEQUENCES OF THE GLF:
Transformation of labour into capitalism
Doubling the industrial production levels between 1957 and 1960
Creating basis which could flourish better under less adverse conditions
Short recovering time of a structural adaptation if compared to the decade took by the U.S.A after 1930 or even the many years which followed the 1973 crack down in the capitalist world
Important and lasting gains in the realms of production relations and cousciousness as it broke with the urban-industrial logic
Settled the Commune as a paradigm of social organization very important in the development of a Communist Idea.
THE AFTERMARTH OF THE GLF AND THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE SOCIALIST AND CAPITALIST ROADS (1960-1965)
MAIN BASIS:
Polarization between Mao's corrective measures in light of the post- GLF situation and Liu Shaoqi own perceptions
Mao's view:
1962 – The Party launched a socialist educational movement and a rectification of tendencies and corruption among its leaders and bureaucracy
1962 – at the 10th Plenun Mao raised the issue of recognizing that class struggles is still there in the socialist stage, therefore requesting caution to avoid following the Soviet bureaucratization and urban-industrial priviledge under the claim that class-struggles doesn't exist on socialism
For this the priority of the first 5 year-plan placed agriculture first and emphacized that industry shall serve the agriculture.
“In agriculture learn form Tachai, and in industry learn from Tach'ing” - The example of independent, self reliant socialist development.
Liu's view:
The education should be of a lesse extent and given by outsiders in the community, as a way to centralize the country and strenght the Party.
The rectification should focus on local leaderships and not on the central ones.
Nor the educational nor the communal lessons of Tachai and Tach'ing matched the bureaucratic top-down approach defended by Liu, which was also quite favorable to fall in the 'Soviet Trap'.
Liu was prone to resolve conflicts with the Sovietic Union specially in light of the U.S.A threat to Vietnam and its possible effects over China.
